Musings of an irish artist/writer now living on the Bodrum peninsula in Turkey

Olive fields by Noreen

Mysterious, primordial world

Wednesday, 9 August 2017

AND OFF TO RONDA WE GO......

We are into August now and the Spanish sun has been really hot. Yesterday the temperature reached 38c. We stayed indoors with the shutters closed to keep out the sun and intense heat. It's not as hot today so I took the dog for an extra long walk this morning to make up for her short walk last night. She is panting a lot with the heat. She is a lovely little creature, so full of love, we have become very fond of her. The cat is beautiful and so good too. There are so many nice places to visit but the weather has been too hot to venture very far. It's not very comfortable walking around towns when you are dripping with sweat!Last month, we travelled by bus to Ronda, a town way up high in the mountains. You can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RondaIt's quite daunting travelling to such a height, I felt as though I were on a plane, one which swung from left to right and back again! As our bus scaled the great heights, the coast faded away below and there is nothing but trees to our right. I look apprehensively to our left, a low metal barrier separates the road from a sheer drop to an ever decreasing valley. Buses, cars and trucks are travelling down towards us at what seems to be in excess of the speed limit on this mountainous winding road. A few of the passengers including me were suffering the effects of motion sickness. My ears were popping, my stomach heaving.... When I thought we could climb no further, we still climbed. I wondered where the city of Ronda could be. Much to everyone's relief we eventually reached a plateau. A beautiful landscape with olive trees, fields and cows stretched out before us.

We climbed even further until this plateau was far below us and eventually we arrived in what felt like another world way above, and level with the clouds. Ronda, a beautiful city, one of the oldest in Spain, rich in history.

This gorge (El Tajo) separates the city’s circa-15th-century new town from its old town, dating to Moorish rule. Puente Nuevo, a stone bridge spanning the gorge, has a lookout offering amazing views.

View looking towards the gorge. You can actually walk down to the bottom to get a full view of the bridge. I didn't see many people do it on such a hot day!

We will go back again during the winter months when we can travel there by train approaching from the Malaga side.

Views from the other side. There are stone seats built into the bridge. I took photos with my tablet and also Mr. D's camera. while his voice trailed behind me saying " don't lean out so far! you'll drop the tablet!

Here is the bull ring, we didn't,t go in!

The entrance gate.

You can take a tour by horse and carriage.

The streets.

The photos cannot really capture it, you need to be there!

Church of Santa Maria la Mayor

Another street with restaurants and shops

Plenty of restaurants and modern shops which had the most beautiful clothes...... I did manage to resist!!

Great to see so many people shopping, and no sign of a recession.

I could easily live in Ronda, if only it were not so far away and so high up in the mountains....

It's lovely parks so cool in the summer.

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Merced Ronda

Me taking a much needed rest in one of Ronda's many plazas.

We wandered round some beautiful streets but there are still many more to see.

Many blinds fully down over windows and balconies, keeping out the heat and the sun.